in Buffalo
I'm in Buffalo for the long holiday weekend, which is one I haven't had off for since high school. I guess that's one of the side effects of working at a Jesuit university. I am happy to have the opportunity to come up to see Christian, though.
The week beforehand was a lot of work, but manageable. Tuesday night I had to pack everything up, clean the apartment, AND do my usual heavy preparation of lesson plans for Wednesday, since I'd be heading straight down to my parents' after my evening class let out. I'm amazed at myself that I got everything done in time and that I didn't fall asleep driving. I even got to my parents' earlier than expected, namely before 11, so I got a halfway decent amount of sleep before waking up at 5 for my flight. Christian picked me up in Buffalo and I immediately went to bed, slept for a few hours, got up and went shopping with him, then slept for an hour. My day was such a mental disjunction and I felt like I had already been there two days because of all the sleeping.
Yesterday was considerably nicer. We hosted a birthday party for Christian's Aunt Glor, which involved having a party of 8. It was our first party in the new Buffalo apartment and it went very well. I made hot prunes wrapped in bacon as an appetizer (it was on the side of a oeufs en meurette appetizer I had in Lyon years ago and it was just so amazingly good). They weren't quite as great as France, because it's hard to get large, still juicy prunes in the US, but they were still tasty. Christian made manicotti from scratch and for dessert he made a ginger and pear cake that was a huge hit. Conversation was lively, wine was flowing. Just a lot of fun.
The week beforehand was a lot of work, but manageable. Tuesday night I had to pack everything up, clean the apartment, AND do my usual heavy preparation of lesson plans for Wednesday, since I'd be heading straight down to my parents' after my evening class let out. I'm amazed at myself that I got everything done in time and that I didn't fall asleep driving. I even got to my parents' earlier than expected, namely before 11, so I got a halfway decent amount of sleep before waking up at 5 for my flight. Christian picked me up in Buffalo and I immediately went to bed, slept for a few hours, got up and went shopping with him, then slept for an hour. My day was such a mental disjunction and I felt like I had already been there two days because of all the sleeping.
Yesterday was considerably nicer. We hosted a birthday party for Christian's Aunt Glor, which involved having a party of 8. It was our first party in the new Buffalo apartment and it went very well. I made hot prunes wrapped in bacon as an appetizer (it was on the side of a oeufs en meurette appetizer I had in Lyon years ago and it was just so amazingly good). They weren't quite as great as France, because it's hard to get large, still juicy prunes in the US, but they were still tasty. Christian made manicotti from scratch and for dessert he made a ginger and pear cake that was a huge hit. Conversation was lively, wine was flowing. Just a lot of fun.